Brothers' Fight - Tails' story
by sonicfan1990
Summary: The other side of the original Brothers' Fight story. When Sonic and Knuckles were going through their fair share of trouble inside the Egg Citadel, Tails was busy with his own problems outside. Join the twin-tailed genius as he joined forces with his allies in an attempt to undermine Eggman's mad scheme for world domination. Also rated T for the use of (even bigger) guns.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.**

**This is Tails' side of the story. The first chapter is the same as Sonic's side, so I make it chapter 0. The story will steer into a new direction soon enough. If you want to save your time, start from chapter 1. If you want to experience everything from the beginning, start here. Enjoy.**

Chapter 0: The Fight

Deep within the forest of the Mystic Ruins, a maze-like rainforest that few dared to enter, stood the workshop of Miles "Tails" Prower, Sonic's genius best friend and partner in the quest against evil. The workshop was also one of the fox's numerous houses around the world. It was always peaceful and tranquil in the small, cozy place, and today was just the same as always…

"Sonic! You…you…big idiot!"

Or not…

"What did you call me, Miles?" yelled Sonic as he crossed his arms and stared down at his (best) friend, Tails.

"I know you heard me the first time," Tails retorted as he entered a staring contest against the blue blur, "but in case you didn't, I'll repeat. Tails took a really deep breath before he shouted at the top of his lung, "Sonic, you big idiot!"

After that, both the fox and the hedgehog engaged in a heated fight (not the physical kind) that broke the usual silence that the Mystic Ruin was known for. The fight was so intense that nobody would dare to interfere. However, there was an unfortunate victim witnessing the brothers exchange verbal insults in the form of a red echidna called Knuckles, the sole guardian of the Master Emerald on Angel Island.

The poor echidna had picked the wrong time to take a break from his guardian's duty, and was now caught in the middle of a battle he didn't wish to get involved. All the yelling from both parties involved was eating away at the echidna's (nearly non-existent) patience.

When the guardian couldn't take it anymore, he punched the closest thing to him, which was Tails' TV, smashing it to pieces. Despite the collateral damage, his blow achieved the desirable effect of halting the fight. At this moment, Tails and Sonic both turned to look at the angry guardian before them in bewilderment.

"Um…Knuckles" said Tails weakly as he pointed at what was left of his TV.

At this point, the echidna realized what he had destroyed and smiled sheepishly at the fox, "Sorry, I'll pay for it later…if I can find money." The moment of remorse didn't last long, however, as the echidna got back to the matter at hand.

"So, can anybody please tell me what the heck is going on in here?"

"Beside you using Tails' TV as a punching bag?" asked Sonic sarcastically.

"My patience is running thin, hedgehog, just answer the question!"

"Didn't know you had patience, knucklehead."

Another punch was thrown, this time aimed at Sonic. Fortunately, the speedster managed to dodge the certain knock-out blow of the enraged echidna. The workshop's floor, on the other hand…

"And there goes the floor," said Tails as he shook his head and sighed in resignation, "Why didn't I agree to buy property insurance for my house?"

Knuckles tried to calm down. The last thing he wanted was to start another fight, which might actually lead to a serious and brutal brawl with Sonic. He breathed deeply and regained his composure.

"So, tell me, what were you two fighting about?"

Memories quickly flooded back to Sonic and Tails as they resumed their bickering. Knuckled sighed in resignation and put his head in his hand, "Make friends they say, it'll be fun they say…For the love of Chaos, SHUT UP!" Knuckles shouted with a voice so loud that it visibly made the fortress-like workshop shake. The two heroes stopped immediately and looked at Knuckles once more.

"So? Is anybody going to spill it?" asked knuckles as he tapped his foot rapidly on the floor.

"Why don't you ask Mr. Hero over there?" said Tails as he glared at his speedy blue buddy, a gesture which Knuckles followed. "Why aren't I surprised?" thought the annoyed echidna as he looked at the troublemaker known as Sonic.

"Hey, I said I was sorry, didn't I?" Sonic glared back at Tails, "In my defense, I didn't know it was your latest invention. I thought it was just a regular Frisbee, so I took it out and played with it for a while. I got a little carried away and accidently smashed it."

"Firstly, it's not a Frisbee. It's a compact storing device that I've been working on for nearly TWO months. By pushing the button in the middle of the device, it can create a pocket dimension to store everything need for our adventures, including the Tornado. Secondly, what kind of Frisbee is made of metal and has circuits running around it?"

Tails was practically yelling in Sonic's face. It was understandable, though. Two months of research and hard work was lost in a Sonic second. Much as Tails respected and loved Sonic, he couldn't stand the hedgehog's antics sometimes.

"Well, I said I was sorry. Besides, it was partly your fault for not putting it in a more discreet location anyway." said Sonic as he tried to come up with a defense of his own.

"So now it's my fault?" said Tails angrily, "Sonic, you don't just walk into somebody house and take their things without asking for their permission first."

"Sorry, but last time I checked, this is OUR house, so I can walk right in without your permission, Tails."

"ARGH! Sonic, why are you acting like such a jerk?" Tails yelled indignantly.

Sonic could stand anyone calling him a jerk, including Eggman, but he wouldn't take it from Tails, whom he had taken in a few years ago. At this point, the blue hedgehog had grown really annoyed, and he opened his mouth to retort back, but it came out the way he wished he had never opened his mouth at all.

"Me? A jerk? I said I was sorry already. Why are you acting like such a spoiled brat, you little fre…" Sonic quickly slapped his hand over his mouth quickly to stop his slip of tongue. In his mind, he hoped that Tails hadn't heard the last word.

Unfortunately for Sonic, Tails had heard that word, and the fox's eyes were filled with tears seconds later. The blue hedgehog looked at the crying fox's sapphire eyes in regret. In those blue orbs, he could clearly see hurt, shock, confusion, fear, and worst of all, betrayal.

"No Tails, I…I didn't mean it, I…" muttered Sonic as he realized what kind of damage he had caused.

"I…I…thought you were…different than…them…Sonic…" was all Tails managed to stutter between sobs before he disappeared upstairs to his room in a flash a yellow, letting his tears fall behind him as he ran.

"Wait, Tails, come back." Sonic yelled after his best friend, but his words fell on deaf ears, just like that fateful day on Westside Island so many years ago. Knuckles watched Tails run as fast as he could to his room with wide eyes. He didn't understand what had triggered such a reaction from the normally cheerful and composed fox.

At this point, Sonic fell to his knees and looked at the floor. Knuckles noticed the blue hedgehog looked really pale for some reason. He put his hand on the cobalt hedgehog's shoulder and shook him gently.

"Sonic? What's wrong with you? Get a grip."

"I…didn't…mean it, Tails, I'm…sorry…" was all the normally chatty hedgehog muttered, which left Knuckled even more perplexed.


	2. Chapter 2

**The first chapter is the same as Sonic's story, so I dub it chap 0. The real story starts here. Also, Tails' story will be a little bit darker than Sonic and Knuckles' story. You'll see that soon enough. **

**In addition, as a compensation for my lateness, I put two chapters up at the same time (three if you count chap 0). Tails goes through more than just hacking the Egg Citadel's mainframe and dropping off tips for his friends.  
**

** Enjoy and don't forget to write down your opinions. Thank you.**

Chapter 1: Thoughts

"Wait, Tails, come back." Sonic yelled after his twin-tailed friend, but Tails chose to ignore the hedgehog's pleas and ran straight into his room. The fox closed the door behind him, fell onto his bed and let his tears fall freely. He was hurt once again, only this time, by the very person that had saved him from his misery years ago.

He had been called a freak many times in the past, but he had already learned to let those memories go. However, the sting of that word still cut deep like a razor knife every time he heard it. When Sonic called him that, he felt his heart ache more than all the other times combined, because the one that had hurt him was his best friend, his savior, his brother, Sonic the hedgehog.

In the back of his mind, Tails knew that it was just an accidental slip of the tongue. He knew Sonic didn't really mean it and just said it in the heat of the moment without thinking, (After all, the hedgehog did cover his motor mouth halfway) but he couldn't help but react the way he had. It hurt him so much just hearing that traumatic word come out of his best friend's mouth.

Tails lied on his bed and cried his eyes out as the memories of those horrible days on Cocoa and Westside Island came back to haunt him. The word "freak" echoed in his mind, and the fox tried to shut it off by covering his large ears, but to no avail. He could hear voices of the past, taunting him and calling him names and ridiculing him in his misery.

"How could you, Sonic?" Tails muttered to himself between sobs, "You know full well how much that word hurts. Why are you such a jerk sometimes?"

Tails grabbed his pillow and used it to muff his crying. If he yelled, Sonic would surely come up to check, and the blue hedgehog was the last thing Tails wanted to see right now.

"Sonic, you idiot."

Tails curled up in the comfort of his bed and cried again, just like those painful days in his past, when he was alone, hurt, friendless and rejected by the world.

"How…could you do that to me…hurt me like that? Didn't you promise you'd never let anyone ridicule me again, so why did you do that to me?"

After that, the little fox was lost in thoughts. He didn't even notice the time anymore. He just lied where he was and let his mind wander.

His line of thought, however, was interrupted when he heard a soft knock on the door.

"Tails, I know you're in there, open up!" said Knuckles on the other side of the door. His voice was commanding, but Tails could easily feel the softness that was present in the echidna's tone.

However, Tails just wanted to be left alone for the time being to think things through. He really didn't want to see Sonic or Knuckles right now. Chaos knew what could possibly happen if he laid eyes on his speedy friend at that moment. In the fox's mind, a brutal brawl was at the bottom of his list of possibilities. Thus, the twin-tailed fox decided to play deaf and stayed silent in his room.

After a while, he heard another knock, but he had made up his mind, so the fox lied down and turned his back to the door, pretending to be asleep.

After a few moments of silence, Tails heard the sound of footsteps walking away from the door. He figured that Knuckles and Sonic might have peeped through the keyhole and thought he was asleep, so they left. Sonic used to do that sometimes at night to see if the fox had gone to bed or still up tinkering with his projects in secret.

Tails almost smiled at the memory of the time when Sonic stormed the room acting like a cop and shouted, "Hands in the air!" like he had caught a criminal red-handed, which scared Tails witless and he did as commanded, dropping his invention on the floor as a result. The hedgehog had talked the fox's ears off that night about how he shouldn't stay up late and all.

"He never changes." Tails said softly as he sat up in his bed. Happy memories of his time with Sonic continued to flash in his mind.

Ultimately, the memories of the day they met appeared in his mind. Tails still remembered that day as if it had just happened yesterday. The way Sonic had comforted him in his time of need; the words Sonic had used to soothe his broken heart; the gentle actions Sonic had done to calm him in his recurring nightmares…Everything came back to Tails. In the fox's mind right now, Sonic's words back then continued to echo.

"_Tails, you are not a freak of nature. You are who you are. You are special. Personally, I love the extra tail. It looks really cool. Besides, how many foxes you know that can fly by twisting their tails together?_ _…__Remember that you are special, kid. Don't let those bullies convince you otherwise"(The Origin of the Unbreakable Bond_, chapter 10).

Finally, a tiny smile crossed the fox's muzzle.

"Although you're a jerk sometimes Sonic, I still love you…like a brother I never had. You're the closest thing to a family I have…But I don't want to see your face right now. It still hurts…" Tails said to himself as he wiped the tears off his face.

Once again, Tails was lost in thought, and once again, his line of thought was cut short when he heard the door downstairs swung open by someone.

"Must be Amy." Tails thought. After all, the pink hedgehog was the only one, beside Sonic, to practically break down the door and invite herself in every time she came by for a visit.

Tails pulled out a remote under his bed and pressed a button. Unbeknownst to Sonic, or anyone for that matter, Tails had bugged his own workshop with a variety of cameras and bugs. Due to years of being jumped on at night by bullies and angry mobs back on Cocoa Island, Tails had become somewhat paranoid about security, even in the comfort of his own house.

The two-tailed fox didn't turn on the cameras; he only activated the speakers to hear what the others were talking about. After all, if Amy came for a visit, she would normally annoy the cobalt hero to no end, and right now, Tails really wanted to hear Sonic's annoyed voice as payback for what he had called him. He knew that was childish of him, but he couldn't help it. After all, the genius fox was no older than eight at the moment.

"I'm just here to tell you that Eggman is attacking Station Square again." said Amy's voice through the speakers, "Where have you been, Sonic? It's all over the news."

That was all Tails needed to know. Eggman was up to his old tricks again, so it was his duty to stop the evil scientist's scheme. Only one problem, he didn't want to face Sonic right now, he needed time to get ready, so he just sat there and waited until the three people downstairs left.

"Knowing Sonic, he won't let anyone come up here anyway, especially if he thinks I'm asleep." Tails said to himself.

True to the fox's guess, he heard Sonic lie to Amy about him not feeling well. After that, Tails heard the door slam shut.

At this point, Tails got out of bed and headed to the hanger, where he kept his (and Sonic's) trusty biplane, the Tornado. After doing a quick check on the plane, Tails started the engine and made his way for Station Square, ready to help his friends stop the mad doctor…in secret.

**So, it's time for our favorite twin-tailed fox to take the spotlight. Do look forward to his adventure, everyone. Pull up the other half of the story for maximum effect if you like. **

**Also, T-pup is not present in this story. If it helps, he's with Cream.**


	3. Chapter 3

**When Knuckles and Sonic engaged the egg-shaped killer robots in a serious brawl in Station Square, what was Amy doing? Read and find out. Don't worry, our twin-tailed genius is also present. **

**Again, pull up the other side of the story for maximum effect if you like. Enjoy. :)**

Chapter 2: Evacuation

Tails left the hanger as fast as he could and made for Station Square. Eggman was terrorizing the city at the moment, and it was his duty to help put an end to the mad scientist's scheme.

The Tornado reached the city after about ten minutes of flying. Tails quickly located a clear spot to land his biplane and hopped out, ready to assist in any way he could. When he spotted Sonic and the others, however, panic got the better of him, and the fox immediately jumped into a nearby bush to hide. He might have (somewhat) forgiven the blue hedgehog already, but that didn't mean the fox was ready to face him just yet.

"Consider it done." said Sonic confidently, although Tails could tell something was off about the tone his hedgehog buddy had used, "Amy, you go and help everybody evacuate to safety. Knux and I will take care of Egghead."

* * *

After that, Sonic and Knuckles sped off in the direction of the city hall, while Amy ran to the opposite direction with her Piko Piko hammer in hands. The pink hedgehog ran straight into a chaotic sector of the city that was burning brightly due to Eggman's sudden assault. There were a lot of people running around. The police and firefighters were trying their best to prevent the fire from spreading any further. The whole scene was utterly chaotic.

"Sonic'll be just fine. He's faced Eggman like a hundred times already." Tails thought as he debated whether to help Sonic and Knuckles subdue Eggman or join Amy in her task of evacuating the citizens to safety. "Besides, Knuckles is with him. Nothing can stand in their way, right?"

After thinking really hard for a second, Tails decided to help Amy. Knowing his best friends, Tails was sure they would prevail in the end. Besides, the fox wasn't ready to face Sonic yet anyway. He was still a mad at the cobalt speedster, so he decided to keep his distance for the time being.

Tails quickly jumped out of the bush and made his way back to the Tornado. He needed to do something about the spreading fire first, and he had just the thing. The genius fox quickly started his plane and took off in the direction of the burning area.

Knowing full well that Eggman had a nasty streak of setting everything ablaze on his path, Tails had prepared a countermeasure in advance. He had fitted the Tornado with water tanks a few months earlier, effectively turning the Tornado into a (part-time) water bomber.

When Tails got close to the fire, he pressed the buttons and released the water. Gallons and gallons of water dropped onto the burning city and extinguished most of the flames in an instant. Tails turned the plane around and emptied the rest of his remaining water tanks. His effort, combined with the efforts of the firefighters and some brave citizens, succeeded in putting out the raging fires.

Some people looked up and cheered at him for his timely assistance, which made the modest genius blush a little.

Soon, the city was no longer burning, but the destruction looked really nasty from where Tails was.

The twin-tailed fox quickly returned to the empty space and landed his plane and made a mad dash toward the city to help to the best of his ability. When he reached the downtown area, he spotted the familiar pink hedgehog smashing some Egg Pawns brutally and mercilessly.

"Poor robots." Tails thought as he looked at the sight before him, "Eggman should really program his pawns to run away from Amy when she's mad. That would save him a fortune."

Amy was doing a very good job herself. After making sure that everyone was out of the area, she started smashing the pursuing Egg Pawns enthusiastically (perhaps too enthusiastically). No robot was able to get close to the rampaging pink hedgehog. However, Amy, even with all her strength and skills, couldn't watch out for every threat in every direction.

One Egg Pawn managed to sneak up on her and was about to stab her with its laser spear. Amy noticed, but it was too late to jump out of the way. Before the murderous robot could act, however, Tails sprinted forward and used his own spin dash attack to destroy it, saving Amy's life in the process.

"Amy, are you okay?" Tails asked as he ran to Amy's side.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the save, Tails." replied the pink hedgehog as she bashed another Pawn on the head. "Where have you been?"

"We'll talk later. Right now, let's take care of these buckets of bolts first."

Amy nodded and turned back to the incoming robots. She had smashed more than twenty of them, and yet they were still coming, each armed with different weapons such as laser guns, light sabers, laser spears and even morning stars with electricity.

Tails grabbed a couple of laser guns from some fallen Egg Pawns that Amy had smashed and started shooting while Amy continued swinging her hammer around with deadly force and precision.

With their combined might, the number of the Egg Pawns reduced significantly after a short while.

"We can win this. Keep at it Tails." Amy yelled while still swinging her hammer.

Tails simply nodded and took the sky using his namesakes. Once airborne, the fox opened fire with two laser guns in both hands, providing cover for his pink companion on the ground. Needless to say, Tails' marksmanship was superb. His shots were spot-on, taking out a large number of Eggman's invading forces.

However, Tails soon faced a new problem. His guns ran out of juice, so he discarded them and stuck to the old-fashioned spin dash that he had learned from Sonic shortly after their meeting.

The fox bounced around and took out any Egg Pawn that came his way, unaware of the fact that he was mimicking Sonic. Amy was amazed for a second, thinking that it was the daring and reckless Sonic she was seeing, not the usually friendly and polite Tails.

"Oh well, they're practically brothers." thought the pink hedgehog as a small smile appeared on her face.

After what seemed like an eternity for the two friends, the number of Egg Pawns was finally reduced to ten. The remaining Egg Pawns were a few feet away from the duo, trying to strategize their moves. Tails, on the other hand, had already figured out how to take all of them out in one shot just by looking at them.

"Amy, are you up for a game of bowling?" Tails called out to the pink hedgehog. Said hedgehog turned around and looked at the few remaining Egg Pawns and smirked deviously.

"Sure, I'm up for one game." Amy said as she raised her hammer up, knowing exactly what Tails had in mind. Tails curled up and started spinning to gain momentum. When the fox gave the signal, Amy swung her hammer and sent Tails flying toward the Egg Pawns with incredible force and speed.

The move took them by surprise. Since none of the Egg Pawns saw it coming (nor were they fast enough to dodge), Tails' ball form landed a critical hit and crushed all of them at the same time.

"Strike!" yelled both Amy and Tails in unison. Tails uncurled and dusted himself off as he walked back to Amy. Finally, the pink hedgehog lowered her menacing hammer and relaxed. They had won the battle. Judging from the carnage that was left behind, Tails calculated that they might have destroyed more than a hundred Egg Pawns.

"Man, I never want to go through that ever again." Tails said as he stretched his hands, back and tails. He didn't want to admit it to Amy, but the girly hedgehog had freakish strength that could very well give Knuckles a run for his money.

"You said it. Still, it was good for a workout. I need to stay in shape if I want to be Sonic's girlfriend." said Amy as she made a post as if she were a supermodel, a gesture that made Tails shake his head and sigh. The pink girl's obsession with Sonic was astounding as it was annoying.

"So Tails...What are you going to do from here? Are you going after Eggman , too?"

"Nah, I'll leave Egghead for Sonic. Besides, I really don't want to see _him_ at the moment." Tails said with a slightly angry tone. Amy, however, thought Tails was referring to Eggman, so she didn't say anything.

At this moment, a giant fortress appeared out of nowhere and completely covered the sky, shocking Amy and Tails. As they looked up, they saw the familiar figures of Sonic and Knuckles being pulled into the mysterious fortress and Eggman flying there in his Eggmobile.

"Oh no, Sonic and Knuckles have been captured." Tails said as he looked at the limp figures of his friends being forcefully pulled into the gigantic floating fortress, "I need to go and help them."

"Then go. I'll stay here and make sure everybody is safe." Amy said as she raised her hammer up again. "Make sure you save them from Eggman, okay."

Tails simply nodded and quickly made his way back to the Tornado. Not even bothering with the usual preliminary check, he started the engine and took off after Eggman's fortress, determined to save Sonic and Knuckles at all cost.

"Wait for me, Sonic, Knuckles. I'm coming." said Tails as he stepped on it, making the Tornado accelerate and fly at full speed.

**What do you think about the chapter? Please write down your thought and comments. Thank you very much for your time and opinions. Stay tuned everybody. The next chapter will be up before you know it (if my professors are kind enough not to bombard me with homework, reports, assignments and tests X_X). **


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, y'all, I'm back with a new chapter. It's been a hectic week for me, but it's finally weekend. Anyway, enjoy. :)**

Chapter 3: Hacker

Tails continued to make his way for Eggman's new base. However, due to his undivided focus on the giant fortress in front of him, the fox failed to notice a rogue Egg Pawn with a huge laser cannon in hand on top of a nearby building.

The Egg Pawn, having spotted the Tornado, immediately raised its laser cannon and locked on. The robot pulled the trigger once it had a clear shot. Contrary to the normally lousy and incompetent marksmanship the Egg Pawns displayed, this one managed to land a direct hit on the Tornado's wing, which clearly took Tails by surprise.

The two-tailed fox quickly turned his head around and spotted the shooter. He then pushed a button and the Tornado shot a missile at the (lucky?) Egg Pawn, destroying it instantly.

Even though the shooter had been dealt with, the damage had already been done. The Tornado couldn't fly straight anymore now one wing was damaged, so Tails had no other choice but to land on the roof of a nearby building for a quick repair.

Tails stood on top of the building and watched helplessly with horror clearly visible in his sapphire eyes as Eggman's fortress pulled the limp forms of Sonic and Knuckles in. His two best friends disappeared soon after, and the fortress began to move away from the city.

* * *

Not ready to give up on Sonic and Knuckles, Tails quickly pulled out his tool kit and began fixing the Tornado's wing. It didn't really take a long time, really, five minutes at most. Soon, the wing was fixed and the Tornado was ready to take off once more.

Tails jumped inside his trusty plane and flew after the menacing fortress to wherever it was going.

"You're not going to get away with this Eggman."

Tails put the Tornado on autopilot and pulled out his portable handheld device, which he called Miles Electric.

"Alright, Eggman, time to figure out what you're planning." said Tails as he pressed a series of buttons and hacked into the flying fortress' mainframe.

"Dang! Eggman's firewall is strong and all the files are heavily encrypted." Tails said as he continued working his way through Eggman's security, "Alright…time to get serious." The genius fox cracked his knuckles and got ready.

"Let's dance, Eggface." Tails pressed the buttons rapidly and relentlessly in an attempt to bypass the ridiculously strong firewall the mad doctor had designed. If anyone could accomplish such a feat, it was the fox, the child prodigy who had matched wits with the notorious scientist on many occasions.

The battle was extremely stressful for Tails, he could easily keep up with the firewall in his head, but his hands barely managed to catch up with his own mind. Not even averting his eyes from the screen even for a split second, Tails continued his with unwavering commitment and determination.

After about half an hour of non-stop typing and code breaking, Tails finally managed to bypass the last of the doctor's security and hacked into the fortress' mainframe and database. (I'm not a technology guru, nor am I a hacker, so this part is not very detailed)

"Yes, in your face, Buttnik." Tails said triumphantly as he stopped for a while to catch his breath. The cyber battle was intense, even for a genius like him.

After a second, Tails resumed his mission. The first thing Tails did was disable the entire fortress' firewall and alarms so that the mad scientist wouldn't be able to figure out the fact that his system was being hacked. The genius fox then opened up a file that showed the fortress' schematics and blueprint, carefully studying everything he could.

"The fortress is called the Egg Citadel?" said Tails as he shook his head slightly, "Egghead really needs to work on his naming skills."

Tails quickly turned his attention back to the schematics.

"Okay, if Sonic and Knuckles are trapped inside a prison, then they must be somewhere in the lower part of the fortress, but where?" Tails said to himself as he tried to pinpoint the exact location of his captured friends. Suddenly, it dawned on the fox.

"The wristwatches I gave them!" Tails shouted excitedly, "I remember seeing Sonic and Knuckles wear them this morning. If that's the case…" The fox then proceeded to pressing another button on his handheld device. A small antenna popped out and started scanning. A minute later, two dots appeared on the schematics, one red and one blue.

"YES!" Tails shouted excitedly as he zoomed in the sector of the fortress where his friends were located. He started accessing security cameras for live footage, but stopped. He still didn't want to see Sonic's face at the moment (Tails is a little childish in this story, but hey, he's only 8).

Tails began to analyze the composition of the containment cell in which Sonic and Knuckles were in.

"Titanium…metal…steel…diamond? Wow, looks like the doc just hit a jackpot. Let's see, what else?" Tails continued to analyze the cell until his device gave him an unknown reading.

"What the…Unknown substance?" Tails asked himself as he looked at the screen. The fox was sure he had had every substance and material on the planet memorized and documented, so the sudden appearance of a new one clearly intrigued the eternally curious and studious fox. However, Tails kept his urge under control. He needed to free Sonic and Knuckles first and foremost.

Turning away (reluctantly) from the new undiscovered substance, Tails began to hack the cell's lock and tried to unlock it. The lock was incredible, and attempting to unlock it would be the scariest nightmare for all locksmiths and thieves around the world, but not Tails.

The genius fox spent a minute or two studying the lock carefully. Once he had everything down, he started his work. Tails' fingers typed rapidly on the keyboards; his eyes completely focused on his task. Soon, the nightmarish lock was undone. Tails let out a sigh of relief and pressed one final button to make the door open, letting their friends out.

Looking back at the schematics, Tails saw that Sonic and Knuckles had already left their cell, and had begun to make their way for the top floor. Tails smiled briefly, relieved that their friends were safe. No matter how mad he was at Sonic (or anyone for that matter), he would still help him to the best of his ability.

After the short celebration, Tails turned his attention back to the Egg Citadel's mainframe and continued to dig even deeper, a feat which he naturally succeeded without alerting the mad doctor to his presence.

"Alright, I'm in. Time to crack this egg wide open."

**You can guess what Sonic and Knuckles were doing at the same time, right?  
**

**In any case, the next chap will be up ASAP. Thank you for your time, and don't forget to write down a few lines. Constructive criticism is always welcome. Flames...I'll go and get my hose ready in advance. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Finally, I'm finished with this chapter.**

**A few words before the story begins. This chapter takes place at the same time at chapters 5, 6 and 7 in Sonic and Knuckles' side of the story (The maze chapters in short). Those three chaps may look very long, but the events actually happen at a rather quick pace, paralleling with this one. **

**Anyway, enjoy and thank you for your support and lovely comments.**

Chapter 4: Agenda

After successfully hacking into the Egg Citadel's mainframe, Tails looked through the files and eventually stumbled upon a list of protocols. Having had experience with the evil scientist and his streak of madness, Tails knew full well that Sonic and Knuckles were not in the clear just yet.

After studying the protocols for a while, Tails found almost nothing that could actually be considered a threat to the combined might of Sonic and Knuckles. Almost. There was one in particular that caught the genius' attention. The file was named "Protocol NWO-7". Curious, Tails opened it and began studying the content.

The content of the file was written in codes, which might look like meaningless scribbles to a normal person. Tails, however, was not just your average fox. The genius looked at the codes and tried his best to decipher them. His eyes squinted as he tried to make head or tail of the content. Tails had everything figured out a few minutes later, and frowned in confusion.

"What is this?" Tails said as he looked at the screen, "A maze with no escape? The walls will move if one motion sensor is triggered to form dead-ends? Why would Eggman build a maze inside his own fortress?"

Tails went back to the schematics of the Egg Citadel and tried to locate the maze in question. His eyes widened when his device pinpointed his target.

"The maze is in the same level as the containment cell." Tails said to himself, "So that's what it's for. This maze is designed as a backup plan to make sure nothing can escape the, including Sonic and Knuckles…and they're inside it right now." Tails nearly yelled as he watched the two dots representing his friends running around aimlessly in search of a non-existent exit, "I need to deactivate this protocol immediately."

* * *

With his objective locked, Tails began to disable the one true threat to the freedom of his trapped comrades. Much to the fox's dismay, he soon found out that the protocol, once activated, could not be disabled, not even by Dr Eggman himself. The only way to make it stop was to shut everything down and reboot the entire system, but that was not the best course of action to take. Attempting to shut down an entire fortress would, without a doubt, alert Eggman to his presence, and the doctor was a force to be reckoned with in cyberspace as he was in real life.

Another way to warn his friends was to use his writwatch to communicate directly with them, but that was no different from yelling out loud, "I'm here Eggman, come and get me", an idea that Tails quickly dismissed.

Knowing Eggman and his abilities, Tails knew that he could very well kick the fox out of his systems and ruined everything he had accomplished so far. The twin-tailed genius tried to come up with another way out for his friends as he glued his eyes to the schematics yet again.

"The maze has nothing except Eggman's robots, walls that can't be destroyed and the…motion sensors." Tails took another look at the motion sensors and found that they were actually fitted into electronic boards, which were probably designed by Eggman to taunt his trapped victims whenever he felt like it.

"You never change Eggman, still playing around with your victims." Tails said angrily, but soon the scowl was replaced by a smirk, "But that's also your greatest mistake."

* * *

Tails pressed the buttons on his device again, and quickly gained control of those electronic boards, without the doctor knowing of course.

"All right, now I have a way to send some sort of message to Sonic and Knuckles." Tails said cheerfully as he congratulated himself briefly for another successful infiltration.

Once in, Tails got down to typing a crystal clear message to explain his findings to his trapped friends.

At this moment, however, the fox's childish side decided to kick in. Memories of the earlier fallout resurfaced in the his head, which made him frown in irritation, not anger. Although Tails had (probably) forgiven Sonic already for the accidental slip of the tongue, which he knew Sonic hadn't really meant it, the fox wanted to get even with his blue buddy and he knew exactly how to do just that.

"Sonic, time for you to use your brain to _**think**_ carefully before you act for a change." Tails smirked mischievously as he began to type his message (you already know what it is. For people who are reading this story for the first time, check chapter 6 for the content and chapter 7 for the answer) and sent it to Sonic. He made sure his message was easy enough to figure out (but a little difficult for Sonic, as seen in his side of the story) and straight to the point. However, Tails' definition of 'simple' was very different from ordinary people's view.

"That's for being mean to me," Tails thought as finished typing his message. After all, Tails was just a kid at the moment, and kids don't just let things slide easily, and even more so if it involves getting even with your sibling.

"Though I do hope Sonic and Knuckles will be able to solve the code. I want them to be safe."

He had to wait until either Sonic or Knuckles was near an electrical board to send the messages, which proved rather difficult with the hedgehog running around the maze like there was no tomorrow and a grumpy echidna that never even bothered to direct his gaze at anything mechanical in the first place.

Tails was getting rather impatient. Fortunately for the fox, the blue dot representing Sonic started to slow down a little and actually stopped at one of the intersections, where the boards were located.

"It's now or never." Tails exclaimed happily as he seized the opportunity and sent his messages to Sonic. He also made sure that the board would make a beeping noise just loud enough for his hedgehog buddy to hear.

Once he had completed his objective, Tails leaned back and allowed himself a quick break.

"Hope you get the message, Sonic. It's the only thing I can do without Eggman knowing" Tails said as he directed his gaze at Eggman's menacing fortress.

* * *

After his really short break, Tails went back to the task at hand: figuring out what Eggman was planning.

"Knowing Eggman, he wouldn't build a grand battle station just for show. He must be planning an invasion, and I'll find out how, where and why."

All of the sudden, a huge screen appeared above the Egg Citadel and showed the image of Eggman's smirking face, a sight that could only spell trouble for everyone.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Eggman said in an eerily polite tone, "I do believe all of you know about me, but just in case some of you don't, my name is Dr Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, and I'm addressing you because I have a very important announcement to make."

He paused for a second to be dramatic for his speech.

"I herby demand that all leaders of every nation around the world surrender to me unconditionally, and make me the one and only ruler of this planet," Eggman said proudly, having completely discarded his false polite tone for his real malicious one, "As you can see, I am a very busy man, so I'll generously give you all two hours to consider and answer to my simple demand. Oh, and if you choose **not** to follow my demand, well…"

Eggman motioned his hands and the camera shifted, showing a bunch of gigantic egg-shaped satellites ready to launch.

"I bet you're wondering what these are, correct? I'll tell you. These are the ultimate instruments of your demise. They are my specially made satellites equipped with super powerful laser cannons, each one capable of reducing cities to dust. There are sixteen of them in total, more than enough to turn this miserable world into a dead planet. In fact, they are capable of wiping out two third of the world's population. I'll simply build my Eggman Empire and rule the rest of the survivors."

Eggman then began to laugh like a madman until he was cut off by a coughing fit and turned away from the camera for a brief moment to catch his breath.

"You have seen the damage I've caused to Station Square. If you don't want the same thing to befall your nations, do as I demand. Resistance is futile. And to help you make your decision sooner, I have a little incentive scheme for all of you."

With that, the mad scientist pressed a button on the keyboard. Giant hatches on the sides of the Egg Citadel opened and countless Egg Pawns and an armada of battleships were deployed, much to everyone's horror. Eggman's forces scattered everywhere and began a full-scale assault on every nation on the planet.

"Remember, you have two hours to answer me. Until then, you can play with little my toys." Eggman said smugly and the screen turned black. It came back up a minute later with a countdown.

Tails looked at the countdown, fear clearly visible in the fox's eyes. Eggman had yet to come up with such a deadly and crazy idea such as this since the incident with the space colony ARK.

"He's finally lost it this time," Tails said to himself as his gaze fixed at the countdown, "I need to put a stop to this soon, starting with those satellites."

Tails then began hacking into the satellites' systems in an attempt to disable the lethal weapons. However, Tails soon realized too late that he had made a huge mistake in his moment of haste and panic, one that completely undermined everything he had accomplished thus far.

* * *

**Okay, I think this one was reasonably long, don't you think? Well, as usual, comments and constructive crictism are always welcome and valued. As for flames, I think my hose is ready now. :)**

**Stay tuned everyone, we will have some action and a lot of chaos next time. Until then.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I can't believe how much trouble this chapter got me into. I had to retype the entire thing because the original script looked like crap. **

**Well, anyway, here is the new chapter. Like I promised, there will be "chaos". :)**

Chapter 5: Chaos

As soon as Tails hacked into one satellite's systems, an alarm went off and surprised the fox.

"Oh no. The satellites had a different security system than the fortress, and I forgot to disable the alarm inside those satellites. I need to get shut them off before…"

The fox never finished the task, however. On the screen of his trusty handheld device appeared the frowning face of his nemesis, Dr Eggman. The doctor glared at Tails angrily, which scared the fox a little.

"So you've been sneaking around my magnificent fortress' blueprints and systems, hmm, fox boy." Eggman said as he forcibly ejected the said fox out of the Egg Citadel's mainframe and, true to Tails' fear, deleted everything Tails had managed to download in a matter of seconds.

"You're not getting away with this, Eggman." Tails yelled at the mad scientist at the top of his lung, "Sonic and Knuckles have escaped and they'll stop you."

Eggman glanced at another screen for a brief moment before turning back to look at Tails with a smirk on his face, one that Tails had never known the doctor to be capable of making.

"It seems so. Thanks to you, now I have to move things forward a little bit." Eggman said as he slammed his fist on a button. To Tails' horror, the countdown on top of the Egg Citadel instantly became zero as soon as the doctor's hand touched the button.

An alarm was heard in the background, and all sixteen destructive satellites were launched one after another a few seconds later.

On the ground, everybody could see the satellite leaving the menacing fortress heading for the atmosphere, ready to reduce the world to dust. A few seconds after the launch, an image of Tails appeared on the top of the fortress, shocking everyone below.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there's been a change of plan," Eggman growled angrily, "Thanks to the meddling two-tailed freak here, I've decided to launch the satellites earlier than scheduled. Now, prepare to be wiped out. When the destruction is over, I'll build my glorious Eggman Empire and create a world where I'll be the one and only ruler. The remaining population will be mine to command. Ho ho ho ho."

When Eggman's voice stopped, everybody around the world began to panic and ran for their lives. From the Tornado, Tails could see the people below trying helplessly to get away. They abandoned their houses, cars and possessions and flooded the streets, running in every direction and stirring up chaos everywhere.

The deployed Egg Pawns quickly subdued and captured everyone and trapped them inside some kind of force fields, leaving them to their fate. The police didn't even managed to put up a decent fight against the robots due to them being heavily outnumbered by sheer firepower and number.

Tails watched in horror as the chaos unfolded right before his very eyes, and it was caused because of his own carelessness in one hasty moment.

Turning back to Tails, the doctor hissed, "Look at all the chaos you've caused, fox boy. Everyone will die, and it'll be your fault."

"If those satellites open fire, you'll be destroyed along with us, Eggman." Tails retorted.

"Not quite. You really think I'm dumb enough to open fire weapons of mass destruction on myself. I have a very safe place to escape to, and I'll stay there while watching you scream in agony. Each and every one of you."

After that, Eggman laughed for a while before regaining his composure once more.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare to welcome two more pests that I need to deal with before I make my escape. Enjoy the last moments of your miserable life, Tails."

With that, Eggman broke off the communication and prepared for the confrontation with Sonic and Knuckles inside the fortress.

* * *

Tails began to shake visibly in the cockpit of the Tornado. He watched in terror as the people below were being captured one by one by the Egg Pawns. Even more troubling, more Egg Pawns and other series jumped out from Eggman's battleships and headed for the cities around the world, ready to wreak havoc.

Tails knew he had to deal with those robots soon, but he currently had a much bigger problem on hand in the forms of sixteen deadly satellites that could possibly turn the entire planet into a wasteland.

"I've got to stop those satellites first!" Tails said as he piloted the Tornado at the closest target. Once Tails was in range, he locked on to the satellite and unloaded the biplane's arsenal of homing missiles. Needless to say, the missiles hit their target head-on, reducing the first satellite to dust.

"One down, fifteen more to go," Tails then stepped on it and made a beeline for another satellite.

However, Eggman's forces quickly intercepted and began to attack the Tornado with their heavy artillery. A large number of Egg Pawns equipped with jet packs and rocket launchers were deployed and they soon zoomed in on the biplane, trying to shoot it down.

"Pesky robots," said Tails angrily. He didn't have time to mess around with simple-minded buckets of bolts. He needed to stop the weapons of mass destruction to prevent a global catastrophe, one that was caused by his oversight.

However, Tails could not concentrate on shooting down the satellites with the Egg Pawns hot on his tails, so he had no choice but to turn the plane around and started shooting. Compared to the robots' marksmanship, Tails' skills were on a whole different league all together. Every missile, every bullet that left the Tornado's weaponry hit and destroyed their target instantly.

After swiftly taking out about a dozen of his mechanical chasers, Tails quickly turned the plane around again and locked on to the second satellite. A few seconds later, another missile was shot out from the biplane, and the end result was the destruction of another weapon. Two satellites had been taken care of, but Tails knew he was far from done. There were still a whooping fourteen weapons left, and they were still enough to help Eggman achieve his goal.

* * *

Not wasting a single precious second, Tails accelerated and made his way toward the next target, shooting down any robots that dared to enter his field of vision or the Tornado's scanner.

Tails clearly demonstrated his superb skills as a pilot and a marksman in this battle. The earnest young flyer skillfully maneuvered the plane in response to anything the Egg Pawns threw at him. He flew in complicated and never-before-seen patterns and took out his pursuers with relative ease. However, he wasn't trying to show off his skills; he was trying his best to reach the third satellite, a feat that was getting increasingly difficult due to the amount of pestering and interference he was getting from the Egg Pawns.

"Stupid robots. I really don;t have time for them," yelled Tails furiously. The stress was really getting to him, and for good reason. The fate of the world depended on his success, and he wasn't about to let everyone down.

Quickly passing through a horde of Egg Pawns, Tails used the Tornado's machine guns to clear his path and shot another missile at his third target. Like the other two before it, the third satellite exploded immediately upon impact.

"I'm never going to make it in time," said Tails as he darted his eyes around and saw that the remaining satellites were already heading for the atmosphere.

* * *

Not giving up hope just yet, Tails sped up and made a beeline for the next target. However, he was quickly surrounded in every direction by a battalion of Eggman's forces, each armed with powerful weapons capable of taking him out easily.

Before they could pull the triggers, Tails made the Tornado spun around and drilled through the robots in front of him, all the while shooting in every direction with every weapon system the plane had.

His attacks managed to temporarily shake off the pesky robots, but he soon realized that the wasted time was more than enough for the satellites to escape his reach. Even though the weapons still had a long way before they reached the atmosphere, there was no way Tails alone would be able to take out thirteen targets so far apart from each other.

However, that didn't discourage the young flyer from trying. Quickly, Tails made his way for the satellite that was currently the closest to his position and pressed the button to shoot another missile at it.

* * *

To Tails' horror, nothing came out of the Tornado when he pressed the button, and he soon knew why.

"What? NO, out of ammo?" yelled the fox angrily as he tried a variety of weapons, but with the same result from all of them.

"How am I supposed to destroy those things now?" muttered Tails in despair as his target eluded him.

Seizing the opportunity, the Egg Pawns quickly surrounded the Tornado once more, and pointed their weapons at the plane. Without ammo, Tails was completely vulnerable to the robots' assaults.

The only thing Tails could do at the moment was trying to escape the robots with all he had left, but that proved to be a difficult task when the Egg Pawns opened fire on him. Some shots managed to hit the Tornado, but Tails managed to avoid most and continued to fly away from the robots.

The fox looked at the remaining satellites and began to feel despair.

"I have to figure out a way to take those things down...I need to...I...I...can...I...just...can't..." said Tails as he began to tear up, realizing that there was nothing he could use or do to accomplish such a feat in such a short time.

At this point, his eyes were already filled up with tears and he hung his head in despair.

"What should I do...Sonic? I need a miracle to stop this..." muttered Tails quietly as the torrent of tears continued to fall freely down his muzzle.

Behind the Tornado, the persistent Egg Pawns continued to give chase. Far above, the satellites continued to make their way toward to atmosphere to carry out their programming. On the ground, everyone fought desperately against the invading robots, only to be outnumbered severely by them.

Tails directed his teary gaze at the satellites once again, and once again, the young kid wished for a miracle to happen, knowing how slim the chances of that happening.

* * *

**My my my. That was stressful. Like I said earlier I had to type this chap from scratch, which took quite a while. I do hope you enjoyed the action, though. Try guessing what will happen next if you have time. **

**Anyway, as usual, do leave some comments and reviews. I love to learn of your thoughts and opinions. Thank you for your time and support. Until next time everyone. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Update time. Here's the new chapter, everybody. Things get a little heated in this chap, and there are some special guests from here on out. Enjoy.**

Chapter 6: Miracle

Tails looked at the still functioning satellites heading for the atmosphere helplessly. There was nothing more he could do. Even with all of his genius, he couldn't destroy the remaining weapons in time. (Number of remaining satellites: 13)

"It's all my fault…" Tails looked down as more fresh tears escaped his sapphire eyes.

* * *

All of the sudden, an explosion was heard above the Tornado, which shook the fox out of his trance and made him lift his head up. The explosion the fox had heard was the sound of a satellite being destroyed by an unknown force (Satellite remaining: 12). Tails looked around and noticed that a lot of Egg Pawns had been destroyed while he was moping.

To his disbelief, Tails saw the sight of one thing he never thought he would see in these darkest hours.

Before his very eyes was a giant crimson airship that looked a lot like a blimp. Tails was no stranger to the newly-arrived aircraft. In fact, he knew it rather well, since he had had a few run-ins with its owners in the past.

"What the…" exclaimed Tails, clearly not believing his eyes, "The Babylon Rogues? What are they doing here?"

Even though Tails, along with Sonic and Knuckles, didn't really like dealing with the high-tech thieves, they still considered them to be worthy and respectable rivals and, occasionally, allies.

Inside the blimp-like airship, a green hawk stood at the window, watching the satellites. Behind him stood a huge albatross and a purple female swallow.

"So, all we have to do is take down those flying eggs and then we'll collect the money, right?" asked Jet, the current leader of the rogues.

"Yeah, I believe that was the deal." said Wave the Swallow, the mechanic of the group.

"Alright, I'm itching to smash something, let me at 'em, boss." shouted Storm the Albatross, the powerhouse member of the trio, excitedly.

Suddenly, a beeping noise came from the airship's computer screen. Wave quickly picked up and an image of Tails took over the screen, staring at the three birds in disbelief.

"What are you three doing here?"

"Not even a 'hello', shorty?" said Wave sarcastically, "We're here to blow these flying pieces of junk up before the reach the atmosphere."

"Why? I don't remember you guys being the hero type."

"Somebody hired us to help destroy those things a while ago. The pay is good, and since we're in the area anyway, we accepted" Jet cut in, "Hah, getting paid for blowing things up, now that's a sweet deal if you ask me."

After that, the green hawk grabbed his Extreme Gear and jumped out of the airship, heading straight toward an ascending satellite. Storm quickly followed shortly after.

Once he was near, Jet took out his giant feather fans and sliced his targeted satellite to shreds at an incredible speed. Storm, following his boss, approached another satellite and punched a huge hole on its surface, destroying it instantly. The explosion didn't even char the sturdy albatross. Once he was done, Storm quickly made his way to his boss' side and headed for another target.

* * *

Back on the Rogues' blimp-like airship…

"Who hired you guys anyway?" asked Tails, still not believing his eyes.

"Ask tall, dark and moody over there for more details, shrimp." Wave said with an annoyed tone, clearly tired of the fox's stream of endless and practically useless questions, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my share of the reward to collect."

With that, the swallow grabbed her own Extreme Gear and headed for the closest satellite to her location. Having studied the weapon's design beforehand thanks to her hacking skills, the swallow swiftly hit the weak points of the flying menace with a variety of tools and dismantled the thing in less than a minute.

The number of the satellites was reduced significantly. (the Babylon Rogues: 3 - Satellites remaining: 9)

Back on the airship…

A figure slowly walked to the open door with two rocket launchers in both hands. That person aimed at two satellites and pulled the triggers at the same time, launching two missiles at two different ascending weapons. The missiles hit their targets directly, reducing them to scraps a second later.

At that moment, Tails was able to clearly see the shooter's face, which surprised him even more than the sudden appearance of the rogues.

"Shadow?" Tails yelled in disbelief for the umpteenth time in one day, "What are you doing on board the Rogues' airship?"

"G.U.N hired the Rogues to destroy those satellites, so it's understandable that I'm here to keep them in line." Shadow said calmly as he picked up another loaded rocket launcher nearby and fired it at another satellite. Needless to say, the targeted satellite exploded after being hit by a direct shot. (Shadow: 3 - Satellites remaining: 6)

The number of the menacing satellites quickly diminished to six after the combined efforts of Tails, Shadow and the Rogues. The last remaining ones were soon either dismantled or manhandled by the high-tech birds without too much difficulty. A moment later, the last satellite exploded, signaling the end of a global cataclysm, which became instant news on every media and every channel around the globe.

From the news broadcast, people and governments around the world began to cheer and cry with utter joy when they learned that the world was safe from the doctor's madness.

Tails too cried tears of joy and happiness when the last of the satellite was blown to bits by the high-tech band of thieves. A miracle had happened, which had saved the entire planet from certain doom.

The fox didn't celebrate long, however. He had a lot of unanswered questions to ask, and he began firing them at the dark hedgehog on the airship.

"So, Shadow," said Tails sheepishly, knowing full well how difficult it was to deal with the ebony agent, "How exactly did you manage to locate the Babylon Rogues so quickly?"

"HQ keeps a close eye on those that they consider 'potential threats to international security' around the world, and the Rogues are just one of them after a certain incident involving a giant floating castle." Shadow replied unenthusiastically to the fox's question as he began typing on some sort of device he was holding.

"How did you get on board the airship anyway?"

"How do you think?"

"Chaos Control?"

Shadow replied with a simple "Hmph!" and continued typing. At this point, the Babylon Rogues returned to the airship and got off their Gears.

"There," yelled Jet, "We've done our part of the deal, now pay up."

"We've already prepared the money at another location. Follow these coordinates and you'll find it. Rest assured that there is nobody there. Once you've collected your money, you can disappear to wherever you like."

"Alright, now that's done," said Wave as she entered the coordinates Shadow had given her into the airship's main computer, "Get off our ship. We're done with this stupid war."

Shadow didn't say anything. Instead, he took out the green Chaos Emerald and used Chaos Control to teleport himself out of the rogues' blimp.

Wave turned her attention to Tails once again.

"Why are you still here, shrimp?"

"I just want to know why you decided to help us."

"Didn't Mr. Moody explain to you already? We had a deal. G.U.N paid us to destroy those things, and we simply followed our contract. That's it." said the swallow with an annoyed tone, "Besides, there are hidden treasures around the world that we're searching for. I'm not about to let some lunatic ruin everything."

Tails looked at the three rogues for a little while longer until a smile crossed his face.

"Thank you for your help."

Wave simply huffed and turned away from the screen. Jet sat down at his desk and looked at the chaos still happening on the ground.

"You'd better get down there, fox boy," said the green hawk, "I want this world to stay intact until I have my rematch with Sonic."

With that, Tails was cut off abruptly. The crimson airship changed its course and quickly disappeared behind the clouds.

Tails watched the airship for a while before shaking his head to regain his composure. He then began to descend, heading for the city down below. Even though the threats of the lethal satellites had been dealt with, the world was still under attack by Eggman's armada and an endless army of Egg Pawns. The fox quickly found a good spot to land the Tornado and made a mad dash toward the closest city, ready to help in any way he could.

* * *

**G.U.N hired the Babylon Rogues to destroy the satellites because they're busy dealing with a worldwide war on the ground. Besides, the Rogues were specialists when it came to aerial maneuvers (they're birds after all). Shadow was there to make sure the Rogues stayed in line and to report back to base when the mission was completed (he's the only one that can appear on a moving aircraft out of nowhere after all). **

**Alright, that's it for this chapter. Read and review if you have time. Thank you, everyone. Have a nice day.  
**


	8. Chapter 8

In reply to **UpbeatButNegative**'s question about how Tails could have tricked the Egg Pawns into destroying the satellites, there are a number of reasons that prevented that from happening, but not completely.

**First of all**, Tails was **desperate** because he thought that it was his own fault that the satellites were launched earlier than expected, and quite possibly so. In his desperation, the fox **panicked** and **momentarily lost the ability to think straight**. After all, that happens to us all in real life. Well I don't know about other people, but it certainly happened to me on a few occasions.

**Secondly**, when Tails was nervous and completely focused on taking down the menacing weapons, he couldn't think of anything except for 'I need to take those things down before it's too late'. We all do this when we are in a state of extreme anxiety, actually. **_Imagine yourself in a classroom taking an important exam, when time is running out and you still have a lot of unfinished questions, all you can think of is 'hurry, hurry, 'hurry, I need to hurry'. I really don't think anyone will have enough time to turn around asking for help from the people next to you. That will actually take more work and more time than getting things done yourself._ **The situation here is somewhat similar. Well, just my own opinion, counters are welcome.

**Thirdly**, like I wrote, Tails was alone while there were **sixteen satellites **flying **in every direction**, each **at** **different heights**. It was pretty much impossible for the fox to reach every single one of them and trick the robots into shooting them down.

For the above stated reasons, I think it was fairly logical for Tails to do the things he did. Genius or not, the fox was only eight at the moment, and _**panic got the better of him.**_

Well, it is **MY** own **opinions**,** you don't have to accept it if you feel something is illogical or lacking**. Like I said, **_counters are always welcome_**. In fact, **_counters are appreciated_**. That will make a very good debate and I love a **GOOD** argument, as long as things don't go too far. :)

In any case, you're all here to read the **new chapter**, so without further ado, here it is. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 7: Assistance

After landing the Tornado, Tails quickly jumped out of the cockpit and made his way toward the nearest city, which was Central City, ready to help bring down as many Egg robots as he could.

To his amazement, Tails found that the Egg Pawns were being pushed back by G.U.N's forces, led by a very familiar face.

"Omega?" said Tails, clearly surprised at the sight of team Dark's walking arsenal.

E-123 Omega simply ignored the 'orange forest creature' and unloaded his entire arsenal and destroyed any misguided and unfortunate Egg Pawn that entered his field of vision.

The deadly robot changed his arms from missiles launcher, to flamethrowers, to Gatling cannons, to grenade launchers (and practically any non-biochemical weapon one could think of and more), causing great casualties to Eggman's ground forces. After all, Omega always hated Eggman and his robots with a burning passion (if he even has passion).

* * *

Tails only stood where he was, admiring the prowess of the last machine of the E-series. He didn't even realize an approaching figure behind him until a gloved hand was placed on his shoulder and pulled him into a nearby bush, which broke the fox out of his trance.

Tails quickly turned around and saw an ivory bat that he also knew rather well.

"Hello there, cutie" said Rouge with a seductive voice.

"Rouge? You're here, too?"

"Of course I'm here, darling. This is practically G.U.N's biggest operation in years, and no way I'm missing out on this one. Besides, they've already promised to pay me three chests of rubies and one suitcase of topazes if I complete my task."

"You haven't changed a bit, Rouge." Tails shook his head slightly at the jewel-obsessed bat in front of him.

"I'll take that as a compliment," replied Rouge with a chuckle. The bat then looked at the carnage happening in front of her eyes (more like a one-sided massacre with Omega indiscriminately blowing everything up ).

"What exactly is your job anyway?" Tails asked curiously, knowing full well the seductive bat was more adept at infiltration and sabotage than she was at direct confrontation and combat.

"That's the reason I came to you, fox boy" said Rouge as she winked at the bewildered fox.

"Think about it for a second. There's no way Eggman could control this many robots and battleships without a central computer. I need your help to locate this computer and I'll handle the rest. Our specialists had given up trying to find it in all this madness. We are a little short-handed right now."

Tails looked at Rouge for a second and thought about what the bat had said. It made sense. By now, Eggman must have been busy dealing with the chaos inside his fortress caused by Sonic and Knuckles, so the doctor must have transferred control of his army to another host.

Tails continued to think about this possibility for a while longer. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to the fox, and soon, a smile crossed his muzzle and looked at Rouge.

"Okay, I'll help you."

"Thanks, cutie. I know I can count on you" said the bat as she blew Tails a kiss.

Tails wasted no time at all. He took out his trusty Mile Electric and began analyzing the frequency of Eggman's robots. The mother computer should emit a different frequency from the rest, so Tails focused his search on that direction.

After a few minutes of analyzing all the collected data, Tails managed to pinpoint the exact location of the mother computer. He opened a three dimensional screen and showed Rouge his findings.

"There" said Tails enthusiastically as he pointed his finger at a red dot on the screen. "The central computer is inside the biggest battleship directly above the Egg Citadel. It's the only one that hasn't moved an inch since this war began."

"Egg Citadel?" mused Rouge, "Eggy really needs to work on his naming skills."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Tails chuckled at the bat's comment.

"Anyway, are you positively sure that's where the main computer is?" asked Rouge inquisitively. The success of her mission (and her payment) depended on this.

"150% sure." Tails said confidently, "But I need to ask. How are you going to get there? Surely you're not thinking about flying all the way?"

Rouge smiled, "That's one of the perks of having Shadow as your partner, hon."

As if on cue, the ebony hedgehog appeared out of nowhere right after his name was mentioned. Shadow looked at Tails briefly before turning back to Rouge.

"Did you locate the target?" asked Shadow with his usual cool tone, not even affected in any way by the worldwide crisis.

"Yeah, thanks to Tails. I need a lift. Get me to these coordinates ASAP" said Rouge as she pointed at the red dot on Tails' screen. Shadow looked at it and grabbed Rouge. The ebony agent used Chaos Control once again and teleported away.

Tails turned off his handheld device and looked at the sky for a little while, hoping that Rouge had gotten there safe and sound. She was one of his valuable friends and allies after all.

* * *

A moment later, Shadow reappeared in front of the fox once again, which took Tails by surprise.

"Ah, Shadow? Shouldn't you help Rouge with her mission?"

"She can handle herself. I'm needed elsewhere" said Shadow as he pulled out a submachine gun, ready to join the battle.

Tails was a little taken aback when the dark hedgehog pulled his gun out and loaded it, but he decided not to say anything.

"Where are you going, Shadow?"

"Westopolis" replied Shadow briefly and concisely, "That city is suffering the most damage right now, second only to Station Square."

Tails looked at his handheld device and updated the status of the war. Around the world, the armies of various countries, under the collective leadership of G.U.N, were making great progress and retaliating. The only city that was suffering the most damage at that moment was Westopolis, just like Shadow had said. That unfortunate city still hadn't fully recovered from the incidents with the Black Arms, and now it came under attack from Eggman's forces.

"Please take me there with you, I want to help. Besides, I think your friend has everything under control here" Tails said as he pointed at the rampaging Omega and looked at Shadow with a determination clearly visible in his eyes.

The dark hedgehog glanced at the fox's face for a while and thought in silence. After a few seconds, Shadow closed his eyes and turned away.

"Just don't get in my way, fox."

Tails smiled and nodded vigorously. Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald and teleported to his destination with Tails.

Once they arrived at Westopolis, both Tails and Shadow found themselves in the middle of a warzone, with the Egg Pawns having the clear advantages over the police and G.U.N's forces and shooting down every vehicle and troops they saw.

Not one to waste time, Shadow quickly joined the battle and started opening fire at anything that looked like big walking eggs on his path. The dark hedgehog showed great marksmanship and precision in the battle. Every bullet that left his gun hit its target and destroyed it instantly.

Once again, Tails found himself amazed by the power of another member of team Dark. Not only did Shadow show deadly accuracy and proficiency with firearms, the dark hedgehog also displayed great mastery at the art of hand-to-hand combat. Any Egg Pawn that managed to get close to Shadow was rewarded with an extremely powerful rocket-boosted roundhouse kick in the face, sending it flying at least ten yards back.

Breaking out of his trance, Tails remembered his reason for being where he was and quickly joined the battle, using his old-school spin dash attack and tails sweep to smash the Egg Pawns and provide assistance to Shadow.

The dark hedgehog looked at the way Tails fought and was instantly reminded of Sonic, but he didn't let it show on his face. Shadow had exchanged blows with the two-tailed fox before, so he knew full well how strong Tails really was despite his looks and age. Turning back to the enemies in front of him, Shadow continued to empty the rest of his remaining magazines and opened fire on the approaching robots.

Once the gun was truly useless to him, Shadow kicked it at an Egg Pawn on his path, knocking its head off. The ultimate lifeform then unleashed his own spin dash attack and forcibly retired Eggman's forces with relative ease.

Tails and Shadow continued to take out as many Egg Pawns as they possibly could to stall some time for humanity and Rouge. They fought valiantly and relentlessly with unwavering determination as they headed deeper into the city, encountering even more Pawns, which they swiftly dealt with.

Despite their efforts, however, the Egg Pawns kept on coming and coming. Tails looked at the situation they were in and hoped that Rouge would finish whatever she was tasked with and that she would do it quickly. Neither he nor the ultimate lifeform (or anyone for that matter) could continue battling a seemingly endless army of robots that knew nothing about fear and fatigue.

"Come on, Rouge. Hurry up!" said Tails under his breath as he smashed another Egg Pawn with his namesakes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Review reply: **

**Answering Gurl's questions: No it isn't. The place you are talking about is Cocoa Island. Also, his old workshop on that island was destroyed, as written in my first story. His current workshop is in the Mystic Ruins, far away from Cocoa Island. **

**Also, a quick note for everyone: All of the events in this chapter take place at the same time. They also parallel with chapter 8 and 9 in Sonic and Knuckles' side (The spiral stair and the first half of the Egg Naga's battle). **

Chapter 8: Chaos everywhere.

The war continued to ravage through the planet. Every local and federal law enforcement agency and organization of every nation joined forces in an attempt to put an end to this madness, with G.U.N as the leading fraction. The worldwide war was gradually reaching its climax.

At Station Square, Amy, joined by local police and law enforcement agencies, continued her seemingly endless struggle against the Egg Pawns' relentless attacks. The pink hedgehog fought valiantly and passionately with her Piko Piko Hammer, taking out as many robots as possible while making sure everybody was safe.

* * *

At the same time in Central City, Omega was still busy blasting the Egg Pawns into high heavens (Thank goodness he doesn't have nuclear weapons). Despite the obvious superiority the final E-series robot displayed, he still had his limits. Soon, Omega's weapons ran out of ammo one by one, until he was left with nothing but his claws, which he used to brutally disassemble the incoming Pawns. However, Omega soon found himself surrounded by a large number of Egg Pawns with huge guns in hands and they started opening fire on him, engulfing the lone walking arsenal in a huge explosion.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Grand Metropolis, the Chaotix detectives were also having trouble of their own. For the trio, what had begun as a simple task of finding some lost items for a client had escalated into a struggle for life, much to the detectives' dismay. Vector, the leader of the group, was throwing punches in every direction and using his gigantic crocodile's jaws to bite the limbs off of any Egg Pawn that got near him.

Charmy Bee, the team's tracker and flyer, used his stinger to disarm the robots. The bee also used his (super annoying) taunts to make the simple-minded robots destroy each other while attempting to shoot him down. Despite his age, the hyperactive bee was somewhat brave, if not a little tenacious.

Espio, the team's ninja and investigator, used his well-honed combat skills and arsenal of weapons to destroy the approaching Egg pawns. The primrose chameleon threw his (almost endless) supply of shuriken at his foes and disarmed many of them (quite literally) at the same time.

"This is getting us nowhere" said Espio to his teammates as he concisely summarized their current predicament. The chameleon then took out his trusty kunai and began dissecting the Egg Pawns in front of him at an incredible speed that was faster than the eye could see.

"Yeah, my wings are starting to get tired, and my butt hurts" whined the young flyer as he dodged an incoming laser beam and joined his chameleon colleague.

"Keep on fighting, you two!" yelled the Vector as he delivered a devastating blow to one Egg Pawn, "I have other important cases to work on, and I'm not about to let my clients down."

Espio and Charmy looked incredulously at their team leader. The brash, pompous and rude crocodile never took his cases seriously, and this was strange to the both the bee and he chameleon. However, as they were about to ask, the powerhouse croc beat them to it.

"Those clients promised handsome rewards, and I'm not about to let those rewards slip through my fingers. So stop yer whining and keep fighting."

Espio and Charmy sighed loudly and shook their heads at the same time. Obviously, the croc cared more about his money than his clients. Even though Vector was an extremely competent detective, he was most of the time clouded by greed and money, a trait that had been rubbing off on Charmy as of late. However, they let it slide and focused on the task at hand. After all, Vector could be a force to reckon with when he was properly motivated (by money of course). The trio continued to take down more Egg Pawns as they made their way to the central part of the city.

* * *

At some point after collecting their rewards at an undisclosed location, the Babylon Rogues had turned their airship around and headed for Metal City to help push back the invading Egg Pawns.

"Tell me again why I'm doing this?" asked Jet as he dashed through a horde of Egg Pawns on his Extreme Gear with his feather fans in hand, slicing all of the menacing robots to shreds at an incredible speed.

"You want to have your rematch with Sonic, right?" asked Wave in an annoyed tone for she had had this conversation with her leader for the tenth time already, and Jet simply nodded as he sliced another robot like an onion, "So we need to make sure that there is still a course left standing to race on. Furthermore, like I said, I've just discovered some hidden treasures around the world, and I'm not about to let Eggman ruin everything."

The swallow accelerated and headed for a platform ahead. Once there, the swallow leaped up and professionally performed advanced mid-air tricks while throwing her self-designed mini bombs at the Egg pawns with incredible accuracy, reducing them into scrap metal with relative ease when the explosives detonated.

Jet huffed and replied with a simple, 'I know that" and continued his work, using his feather fans and his extreme gear to generate extremely powerful turbulences to blow Eggman's robots away. The hawk also performed some professional mid-air tricks of his own while shooting mini tornadoes everywhere by waving his fans. The force of the self-proclaimed 'Legendary Wind Master' either blew the Pawns away or tore them to shreds instantly.

Storm didn't say anything to his comrades. He was having too much fun rampaging around the city without fearing the authority grabbing his neck (not like they could anyway). The albatross dashed around the city and pummeled the Pawns to the ground with great delight. Any robot that dared to approach the stampeding albatross was rewarded with a powerful clothesline that broke them in half.

Wave entered some commands into her remote and the airship started shooting missiles at the Egg Pawns, destroying even more in the process. The Babylon Rogues then regrouped and combined the power of their Extreme Gears to create a huge tornado, blowing the invading robots away.

* * *

Back in Westopolis, Shadow and Tails were still dealing with their own share of trouble. The Egg Pawns just kept on coming and coming, and the heroes were getting really tired, both physically and mentally.

"There is no end to these guys" said Tails as he whacked a robot with a really powerful tail sweep.

Shadow didn't say anything. In fact, Tails didn't think the dark hedgehog could feel anything from the looks on his face. Despite being heavily surrounded and outnumbered by Eggman's forces, Shadow managed to keep his poker face intact as he continued to brutally disassemble the robots with his version of the spin dash and homing attack.

The ebony hedgehog was a complete contrast to Sonic, a fact that Tails knew very well. The cobalt hero wouldn't pass up a chance to throw in a few jokes no matter how dire the situation was. On the other hand, Shadow remained quiet and calm at all time. If there were anything both hedgehogs had in common, it was their will of steel to finish what they started, a trait that Tails deeply respected.

After a long while of fighting, the Ultimate Lifeform was beginning to get really annoyed with the endless stream of robots, but he kept it to himself. To the proud and stubborn hedgehog, showing his emotions was like showing his weakness to his enemy. However, he couldn't deny the fact that the pressure was getting to him.

After another long while, Shadow resorted to his final trump card. The dark hedgehog pulled out the green Chaos Emerald again and held it up.

"Shadow?" asked Tails curiously as he looked at the dark hedgehog, "What are you…"

"You'd better take cover, Tails" was the only reply the fox received. Suddenly realizing the dark hedgehog's intention, Tails complied and quickly got behind a fallen building nearby, bumping his head on a rock in the process. It wasn't much, but it still scratched the fox's head and made it bleed steadily, but he didn't care about that minor flesh wound for the time being.

As soon as Tails was out of sight, Shadow's body began to glow crimson.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY, ALL OF YOU!" shouted the Ultimate Lifeform to the agents nearby, who quickly obeyed and took cover as soon as they laid eyes on the Chaos Energy-imbued hedgehog.

"Chaos Blast!" yelled Shadow loudly as he released the stored-up energy.

The entire area was engulfed by a bright crimson light as soon as the words left Shadow's mouth. The shockwave generated by the hedgehog was so powerful that it literally wiped Eggman's robots out of existence in a matter of seconds. It was fortunate that all friendly troops had been given an advance notice, so they were not caught in the blast radius of the ultimate lifeform's most destructive attack.

The Egg Pawns, on the other hand, were blown to bits when the attack hit them. An entire army of fearless robots was reduced to dust in a matter of seconds, an incredible feat that only Shadow was capable of.

Shadow's attack was effective, and it completely wiped out the entire army Egg Pawns, earning everyone a few minutes to catch their breath until the next wave of attack came.

"Shadow? Are you okay?" asked Tails with a worried tone when he saw Shadow pant after his attack.

"I'm fine" replied the stubborn agent as he stood up straight. Another trait that Shadow and Sonic had in common was their stubbornness to admit their weakness to anyone.

Shadow quickly grabbed a submachine gun and some magazines lying on the ground and loaded it, ready for the next wave of Egg Pawns.

"Get ready!" commanded the dark hedgehog as he directed his gaze far ahead, "They're coming again."

The G.U.N's troops once again obeyed and prepared for another nearly endless stream of menacing robots. Tails did the same as he stood behind the dark hedgehog, mentally preparing himself for another brutal brawl with Eggman's robots.

"I hope Rouge shuts down the mother computer soon" said Tails breathlessly.

Shadow simply remained still. However, in his mind, the agent was thinking the exact same thing.

* * *

While the chaos was transpiring on the ground, on board the battleship that harbored the mother computer, Rouge steadily made her way through the maze-like interior of the ship and tried to locate her target. There were a lot of security systems, including (but not limited to) laser, automatic guns, motion sensors, heat sensors, electronic nets, and, of course, more Egg Pawns.

However, Rouge, with her experience in the art of infiltration and sabotage, easily used every trick she knew to disable the security systems and walked right in like she owned the place. For the Egg Pawns and other series of Eggman's robots, the ivory bat kicked them hard on the heads and the rest was history.

"Hmm, Eggy sure knows how to keep a girl away from his place" Rouge mused as she disabled more security systems, "He needs a date, fast. This place could surely use a woman's touch."

Using the same tactic that Tails had used to pinpoint the ship, the bat used her own device to analyze the frequency and tried to find her target as she continued to make her way through the security and guards.

After about half an hour walking around (a lot of explosions were going on the ground at this time), she reached a huge metal door with Eggman's insignia carved on it. The bat smirked when she looked at the screen of her device.

"Gotcha!" said the bat with sparkle in her eyes. She was one step closer to her promised rewards. She attached her device into the lock and let the device carry out a brute force attack on the lock, trying different combinations of numbers in a matter of minutes.

Suddenly, Rouge's sensitive ears picked up the sound of footsteps approaching. The ivory bat turned around and saw five Egg Pawns staring at her with a variety of random weapons in hands. They were carrying a broom, a wrench, vacuum cleaner (?). Only two carried deadly laser guns.

"No wonder this place looks like a mess" thought Rouge to herself amusingly as she looked at the Pawns' poor choice of weapons, "Eggy seriously needs to find himself a woman to help with the chores. and his brain."

By the time the Egg Pawns raised their laser guns at Rouge, the bat had already appeared in front of them and disarmed them. She took the guns, jumped on top of one robot and shot the others with deadly precision. After taking out four robots in one swift motion, Rouge pointed the guns at the head of the robot she was riding on and pulled the trigger.

"Sometimes you make this too easy, Eggy" said Rouge as she blew on the guns.

The spy bat's device emitted a beeping sound a second later, the door opened. The bat smirked gleefully and went in ready to finish her job.

Inside, Rouge was met with circuits and machines everywhere. The bat whistled in amazement as she looked around.

"If I were a mother computer, where would I be?"

Quickly locating the main computer among the circuits, Rouge arrived at a giant pole in the middle of the room. After taking out her device and checked the frequency emitted from the machine in front of her, the bat was sure that she had found her target.

"Alright, time to shut this baby down and collect my jewels."

The bat approached the mother computer and pulled out a bomb. She set the timer and placed it on the target.

"Time to make my escape."

With that, the bat ran out of the room and followed the paths she had taken and located the exit. Once she had reached it, Rouge jumped out of the battleship and flew down, waiting for an extravagant fireworks show that was due to happen very soon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you all so much for everyone's time and support. Love you all. **

**This chapter takes place at the same time as the second half of Sonic and Knuckles' battle against the Egg Naga inside the Egg Citadel. Just a side note for everyone. :) **

Chapter 9: The War is Over

In Station Square, Amy and the police were already on their last leg. The endless struggle had left them really drained physically and mentally. They weren't sure if they could keep on fighting anymore.

"Man, I really hope Tails has gotten Sonic and Knuckles out of that thing. I could really use their help right about now." thought the pink hedgehog as she whacked a broken G.U.N truck at a horde of Egg Pawns, crushing them to the ground…

* * *

In Central City, a badly charred Omega emerged from the explosion he had been caught in and slashed Eggman's robots with his claws.

"Inferior models must be eliminated," said the walking arsenal with his usual monotone voice as he snapped an unfortunate Egg Pawn in half with a thunderous back breaker.

* * *

In Grand Metropolis, the detectives weren't faring any better than Amy. They were exhausted. Vector had chipped his teeth from crunching too much metal. Espio had (finally) run out of projectiles and his kunai was in no longer in good condition. Charmy's wings were killing him from flying too much.

"We're doomed" exclaimed Vector and Charmy simultaneously as they comically dodged the incoming laser beams.

The chameleon simply sighed, greatly annoyed by his teammates' pessimistic mindset. Espio didn't say anything at all; instead, he continued to use his various styles of martial arts to deal with the hostile opponents.

Despite Vector and Charmy's current outlook of the grim situation, they wouldn't give up so easily. Quickly joining their ninja teammate's side, the duo began to launch a counterattack at the advancing robots with everything they had. If they were going to lose, they would at least go down fighting to the last ounce of their strength…

* * *

In Metal City, the Babylon Rogues faced a trouble of their own. Their Extreme Gears had run out of air a few minutes ago, and they couldn't really find a place to replenish the fuel (with everything blowing up in that city, it's hard to even locate a hotel, much less a tiny base for refueling air gears).

The Rogues, however, continued to fight their way out. Wave pressed a button and ordered their airship to land. In light of the current predicament, the swallow had decided to make a strategic retreat. As the airship descended, the birds used everything they could to fight their way through the menacing robots in an attempt to reach their airship…

* * *

In Westopolis, all hell broke loose. Eggman's forces were everywhere, much to everyone's dismay. They had brought out the big guns and started shooting at everything their sensors picked up.

Shadow had resorted to using Chaos Spears to retaliate, despite knowing full well how much strain the attack put on his body if used repeatedly in a long period of time.

Tails, using his genius, quickly repaired some of the fallen robots and turned them into temporary allies. The fox also used every trick he could think of in an effort to push back the invading forces.

In spite of everyone's best efforts, they were vastly overpowered by Eggman's army. Everywhere, the heroes found themselves surrounded by the robots. The Pawns pointed their guns at them and prepared to pull the trigger.

* * *

At that time, an extremely loud explosion was heard on the sky, causing everybody to direct their gaze at the source. The battleship that was directly above the Egg Citadel was blown to bits and fell to the ground.

Back to Eggman's forces, as soon as the gigantic battleship exploded, the Egg Pawns around the world began to malfunction. After squirming uncontrollably for a few seconds, they all short-circuited and went offline at the same time.

"YES!" exclaimed Tails happily, "Rouge did it!"

Shadow remained indifferent, but the presence of a ghost of a smile on his muzzle told the fox that he was happy that the war was finally over. A tiny smirk appeared on the hedgehog's face, but it disappeared after a split second as he turned away and walked to the G.U.N agents stationed nearby.

The agents turned on their communication channel on and cheered loudly when they heard that the Egg Pawns around the world had stopped working. That was it. That was everything everybody wanted to hear: The war was over. They had won.

Tails couldn't contain his excitement and joined in the cheering. Shadow simply stood where he was with his arms crossed, but anyone could tell the silent agent was pleased with the end result.

* * *

In Station Square, everybody started celebrating and throwing their hats and helmets up in the air, yelling and crying happily all the while. Amy joined in the celebration and threw her hammer up in the air. The large hammer hit the ground with a loud bang, shocking everyone present. There was also a small tremor when the hammer landed hard on the ground.

"Sorry," said Amy sheepishly, "I got overexcited."

Even though Amy could have been charged with destruction of public property, the police didn't care; they just laughed it off and went back to celebrating.

* * *

In Grand Metropolis, the Chaotix also started cheering. Charmy was all over the place yelling incomprehensible stuff. Espio put his kunai away and looked at the damage that had been done to the city. When he noticed his boss picking up the remains of the Egg Pawns, he raised an eyebrow questionably.

"Vector? What are you doing with those things?"

"Recycle!" said Vector as he continued picking up the scrap metal on the ground, "I bet we can make a good profit out of these junks."

The fuchsia chameleon sighed, "It's always money with this guy" was all that crossed his mind. The chameleon then walked to Charmy and left the croc to his own device.

* * *

At the same time, Omega had recovered from most of the damage the Egg Pawns had caused him. Also, he managed to automatically fix his flamethrowers and began to 'cremate' the deactivated Egg Pawns, a job he carried out with pleasure and without a second thought. (He hates their guts).

After a short while, Rouge landed on his shoulder and smiled at the robot.

"How are you feeling, Omega?" asked the bat.

"All functions online. No major defect detected."

"Alright, then let's get back to base, big boy. I'll contact Shadow later. I need my beauty sleep after all this...and after I collect my jewels, of course."

"…Affirmative…"

After that, Omega activated his rocket boosters and headed back to G.U.N headquarter, with Rouge sitting on his shoulder.

* * *

In Metal City, the Rogues had already taken to the sky in their airship and looked at the aftermath of the war down below. Jet smirked and sat back onto his couch. The green hawk turned around and looked at his accomplices.

"It's finally over. About time," said the hawk.

"Yeah, thanks to those stupid buckets of bolts, I have to a lot of fixing and tuning to do" said Wave in a really annoyed tone. Their gears were badly damaged during the war, and now Wave had to fix not only hers, but also her teammates' as well, a thought she wasn't too fond of.

"Now then, about the treasures you said you'd discovered…" said Jet as he put both hands on his desk and looked at Wave. The swallow simply nodded and began making a course for the Gigan Rocks, having discovered a secret treasure there that might have something to do with their origins (Any Sonic fan will know about this place and the story behind it).

* * *

Back to Tails in Westopolis...

After Shadow, having been contacted by Rouge, and the G.U.N agents had returned to base to plan the next steps for taking down Eggman's flying fortress, the fox entered some codes into his wristwatch and commanded the Tornado to fly to his current location.

Once the Tornado had arrived, Tails flew into the cockpit and prepared to head to the Egg Citadel.

All of the sudden, there were explosions on the top floor of the fortress. The Egg Citadel began to shake violently and lose altitude.

"Sonic and Knuckles did it!" exclaimed Tails, "they must have beaten Eggman already."

Tails smiled happily and began to head for the place that the Egg Citadel was going to crash land pretty soon, according to his calculations.

At that moment, he remembered something he had forgotten the entire eventful day. He was supposed to be mad at Sonic. Knowing the cobalt hedgehog, he would most likely dash back to the Mystic Ruins and to his workshop immediately after all that.

Not knowing how to face Sonic just yet, Tails made the most rational decision presented to him at that time: heading back to his workshop first and pretended that he had not moved from his bed. Without a second thought, the two-tailed fox turned the Tornado around and stepped on it. The plane soon reached its destination after a few minutes of flying.

**Alright, that's it for this chapter, folks. Stay tuned for next time. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Finally, I'm done with this chapter. If you had read Sonic's side, you would know where this chapter fits.**

**Oh, and thank you everyone for your precious reviews and comments, as well as your time and patience. Most of all, I'd like to thank UpbeatButNegative and ABCSonicKirbyWarriors, as well as all the other readers for your wonderful comments and thoughts. Enjoy the final chapter of the story, and a little surprise you don't want to miss. Enjoy.**

Chapter 10: Forgiveness

Quickly parking the Tornado in the hanger, Tails jumped out of the cockpit and ran straight to the bathroom. It had been a long day, and the fox was mostly black from all the explosions in different cities.

Tails took a really quick shower, just long enough to wash the dust and ashes off his body until his fur returned to its original golden shade. He grabbed a hair dryer and dried off his fur.

"Good!" said the two-tailed fox as he looked at his own reflection in the mirror.

However, he soon found another problem. The bump on his head when he had taken cover from Shadow's Chaos Blast was clearly visible to the now clean fox. Like before, it wasn't much, but it looked nastier than it actually was.

"Oh no, if Sonic sees this, he'll bug me to no end" said Tails as he yanked his cabinet open and reached for a band-aid inside and placed it over the gash. The fox then used the fur on his head to cover the band-aid, hoping Sonic wouldn't find out about it.

The hedgehog, due to his knowledge of Tails' past, was extremely protective of Tails. Any minor cut or bruise that appeared on the young genius looked a bazillion times worse in the cobalt speedster's eyes. After taking Tails back from Westside Island, He had always acted paranoid when Tails accidentally hurt himself in missions, or in his experiments. Even though that side of Sonic had somewhat subsided over the years, the hedgehog still overreacted to his young charge's injuries, which both amused and annoyed the fox.

Once Tails was sure that everything looked exactly like before, he ran into his bedroom and closed the door. At that moment, the fox's sensitive ears picked up the sound of the front door opening downstairs, and knew that the blue blur was back. Tails quickly climbed onto his bed and lied down with his back turned toward the door like before and pretended to be asleep.

The sound of familiar footsteps was getting clearer and clearer until it stopped right in front of his door. There was a relatively long moment of silence before a gentle knock was heard.

"Go away, Sonic" said Tails as he feigned anger in his tone. Not that the fox hadn't forgiven his cobalt buddy. On the contrary, Tails had, but he still felt awkward and didn't know how to face Sonic at the moment, so he tried to make Sonic go away. He thought it would be best to reconcile with his best friend the next day, when both he and Sonic calmed down from all the commotion that had taken place.

However, Sonic, being true to his nature, didn't follow the fox's command.

"Tails, I just want to talk to you for a while. Could you at least hear me out? Just five minutes. Promise."

Tails thought for a while. He really wanted to make Sonic know that he no longer held any ill will towards the hedgehog, but he was just too embarrassed to say so. However, knowing that Sonic wouldn't leave something once he had set his mind on it, Tails sighed and reluctantly told the cobalt hero to come in.

The door opened quietly. Tails was about to turn around to face Sonic, but that was when he remembered his gash. Even though it was almost invisible under his thick fur, there was a chance Sonic could see it and grew worried. After all, the blue blur could be very observant if he chose to be. Tails would never want to worry Sonic over trivial stuff like that.

After considering the options quickly in his mind, Tails decided to lie still, with his back still turned toward Sonic, which effectively made Sonic think the fox was still mad at him for the unfortunate slip in the morning.

Tails heard Sonic pull out the small stool he kept under his bed and sat down. He could also feel the hedgehog's intense gaze staring at his back. The room was filled with an awkward silence, until Sonic decided to break the ice.

"So, Tails…" said Sonic softly, "What have you been doing all day?"

Tails flinched slightly when he heard that.

_What kind of question is that?_ thought Tails, _Could it be that he knew I was there? No, it couldn't be, but there's still a chance that…_

The fox thought for a while as numerous responses ran through his head, but he picked the simplest one that came to mind.

"Sleeping...Why?"

"Oh, nothing. I just thought you might have taken the Tornado out for some fresh air, or took your time writing messages to your friends." said Sonic in a teasing tone. Even though it was muffled, Tails could have sworn he heard Sonic chuckle to himself.

"What is it you want to talk about, Sonic?" said Tails as he tried to find a way to change the subject.

After a few seconds, the hedgehog began his speech.

"Tails…I just want to say that I'm sorry for what I did. You were right, I was a stubborn jerk, a bad friend." Sonic paused for a while, "I'm sorry Tails. Could you…forgive me?

Tails was surprised. Sonic actually swallowed his pride and apologized to him. However, more than surprised, Tails was touched. The young fox smiled, but he still didn't say anything. Instead, he lied still and let Sonic continue his speech.

"Look, Tails. I know you're still mad, and you have every right to be. You don't have to forgive me right away, or for a few weeks, or months even, but I just want to let you know that I really am sorry for my stupidity and actions. I know how badly I hurt you, and I promise I'll never do it again. I just hope that…we can still be friends, you know…bros."

Tails' smile grew wider and wider. Before he knew it, he was grinning ear to ear as he listened to his best friend. There was no way Tails would hate Sonic. Sure, the fox would get mad at the hedgehog from time to time, but he could never hate him. He couldn't even begin to thank the blue hedgehog enough for saving him all those years before, so how could he ever hate his idol, hero and brotherly figure.

Tails was so happy and touched that he didn't even realize how quiet he had stayed after Sonic's apology. He was soon broken out of his thought by the sound of the hedgehog standing up from his stool and walked out the door. Before Tails could turn around and said something, Sonic beat him to the punch.

"Goodnight, Tails. See you in the morning…little bro."

Tails began to tear up when he heard those affectionate words coming out of his best friend's mouth. It **had** been a while since Sonic last used that term to address him, especially after they had both grown up. The fox never had a real family, and being called that way by his friend felt really good. Without a moment of hesitation, he replied.

"See you…bro." The last word was a bit softer than the rest, but it was still loud enough for Sonic to hear.

A moment later, Sonic's voice came again as he closed the door.

"Yeah, see you. And thank you...for everything."

After that, the blue blur went back to his room and hit the hay. It had been a very long day for him, and there was nothing else he'd rather do, not even a buffet of chilidog could stop the hedgehog from getting a much needed shuteye after the adventure he had come back from.

Tails slowly turned around as soon as the door was closed and sat up slowly. The fox stealthily went to Sonic's room and took a peek inside. The cobalt hero was fast asleep and pretty much dead to the world.

Tails approached Sonic's bed and looked at his sleeping friend for a while, noticing the wide smile on his muzzle.

"Good night, bro. See you tomorrow" whispered Tails softly as he pulled the cover up and smiled at Sonic.

The fox then quietly left the room and returned to his own bedroom. It had been one hell of a day for the young genius as well, and he was feeling very tired. His eyelids just kept getting heavier and heavier as time passed. As soon as he lied down on his bed, Tails closed his eyes and soon drifted off to a peaceful sleep.

Before his ever-moving mind shut down for the day, one final thought appeared, "Everything will be back to normal tomorrow."

With that, the residents of the workshop enjoyed the peaceful night with a smile imprinted on their faces, waiting for the sun to rise to begin a new day. A new day always would bring forth a new adventure.


	12. Chapter 12

Epilogue

The next day, the heroic deeds of everybody involved in the worldwide crisis the day before, which the media dubbed 'The One-day War', were on the front page pages of every newspaper and every news channel around the world.

The governments, however, had to deal with the mess that was left behind by Eggman's forces and began rebuilding the destroyed cities, as well as giving final respects to those that had fallen in the war, mostly G.U.N agents.

Back in the Mystic Ruins, Tails and Sonic had already made up and were talking to each other like nothing had happened. Actually, the duo made up after Sonic gave Tails a one-hour long speech regarding the minor injury the fox had sustained in the war and how he should be careful in battle. Despite the genius' best efforts to conceal his gash, Sonic fond out from just one look, much to the kid's dismay.

* * *

After reconciling their friendship, Sonic and Tails decided to throw a party at the workshop and instantly invited everyone over to celebrate the sweet victory.

When Tails was busy with the soft drinks and cake, Sonic set up the tables and hung on the decoration.

"So Tails, did you have everything ready?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"How many people are coming anyway?"

"Well, there's Amy, Rouge, Shadow,…" said Tails as he began counting with his fingers.

"Wait, you invited Shadow? Keep him away from me; I don't ever want to have grenades for lunch."

"Yeah, it'll be fun to watch, though. That mouth of yours can get you into a lot of trouble." said Tails as frowned slightly, still remembering the event of the day before.

"Hey, I'm sorry, and I'll say sorry again and again until you forget about the whole incident." Sonic said with a stern voice, implying how serious and sincere he was being, which made Tails snicker a little.

"Yeah, I know. You always have that caring side of yours that I love and respect." said Tails as he went back to preparing the cups and drink.

Sonic smiled happily as he looked at the gold fox. The hedgehog made a mental note never to do anything that stupid ever again. He smiled to himself and continued setting the chairs and tables at a blinding speed.

"Anyway," continued Tails as he checked the list of invitees once again, "Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Knuckles, the Chaotix. Who else…I don't think the Rogues or Omega will show up. Well, that's about that. Oh, and Amy will be bringing Cream along."

"That's a lot of people" said Sonic as he whistled in amazement at the list of people.

"Well, it's a good cause for a celebration."

"Okay, then let's hurry up then. Knowing Amy, she should be here any mo…"

Before Sonic finished his sentence, the doorbell rang. Both Sonic and Tails looked at each other and chuckled at the impeccable timing.

"I'll get it" said Sonic as he headed for the door.

The blue blur quickly reached the door. The doorbell continued to ring more and more.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming," said Sonic with an annoyed tone as he opened the door, "Jeez, would it kill you to be patient, Am…"

* * *

The hedgehog never finished his sentence, as he was shocked speechless by the individual in front of him. It was not the girly pink hedgehog. Rather, it was a very familiar lavender cat dressed in a royal purple coat with white fur around the wrists.

It took a few seconds for Sonic to snap out of his initial surprise.

"B-Blaze?" asked Sonic, "What are you doing here?"

Blaze, the princess of the Sol Dimension, Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, and a close friend of Sonic, Tails and the entire gang, was standing in front of Sonic and panting breathlessly.

"S-Sonic…I need your…help" stammered the pyrokinetic cat.

As soon as she finished her sentence, Blaze fell into Sonic's hands and blacked out. At that moment, the blue blur could clearly see the nasty wounds on the cat's body. Whatever happened to her, it must have been extremely dire to make the extremely powerful and proud princess to cross dimensions and came to his house for help.

Not wasting a second, Sonic took the limp body of Blaze inside and notified Tails. After overcoming the initial shock, the twin-tailed fox cleared the couch and set her down.

* * *

"So, what happened?" asked Tails curiously as he bandaged the injured Blaze on the couch. Luckily, she suffered only flesh wounds, but some looked pretty nasty.

"I don't know, she just appeared out of nowhere and asked me for help."

"Help?"

"Yeah, I think we need to cancel the party and wait for Blaze to wake up and explain the entire situation. Since everyone is coming anyway, we can ask them to help out."

Tails only nodded and turned his attention back to the unconscious cat on the couch, whose face suggested she was being haunted by nightmares of whatever misfortune that had befallen her and her world.

* * *

It was noon when Blaze opened her eyes and groggily looked around. She noticed she was in a house, but it wasn't hers. The cat's eyes then caught sight of a blue figure, but she couldn't make out who it was due to her blurry vision.

"Hey, Blaze" said the blue figure, "Are you okay?"

She instantly recognized that voice. She squinted her eyes and looked hard at that person. Once the blurriness was gone, Blaze recognized the person instantly.

"Sonic?" What…" stammered the princess as she tried to sit up.

"You fainted in front of our house earlier this morning, don't you remember?" said another voice as that person helped her up. Blaze turned her head and recognized Tails.

"I…fainted?"

"Yeah, you were pretty beat-up and said something about needing my help." said Sonic as he recalled the incident.

At that moment, memories flooded back to Blaze and she opened her eyes wide.

"Help! Yes, I remember…My world…my world…"said Blaze frantically as she tried to state the reason for her unexpected visit.

"Please calm down, Miss Blaze," said a young and high-pitched voice, which made the cat look down and saw a cream-colored rabbit.

"Cream…"

"Please Miss Blaze. You have to calm down first, otherwise we can't understand you" continued the rabbit.

Blaze took the girl's advice and calmed her head. At that instance, she took notice of her surroundings for the first time ever since waking up. There were a lot of people in the room, and all of them were looking at her with worry clearly visible in their eyes (maybe except Shadow, he has one hell of a poker face).

The princes breathed heavily and relaxed her nerves. She then looked at Sonic once again.

"So, Blaze," began the hedgehog, "Are you okay now?"

"Yes, I am very grateful for your aid in my time of need." Blaze said with her usual formal tone, indicating that she had somewhat recovered, a sign that everybody in the room quickly noticed.

"So," began Tails, "What is it that you want Sonic to help you with?"

Blaze sat upright and took another deep breath. The lavender cat then looked at everyone in the room and began to explain her situation.

"I am currently faced with a problem beyond my powers. I need your help Sonic. This is very important to me."

Sonic simply nodded and let the cat continue.

"My world is in trouble. An unknown force has surfaced and they are threatening to tear everything apart. I tried to stop them, but these creatures were beyond my power. They defeated me in battle and escaped my clutch."

Blaze took another deep breath before continuing.

"Before the disappeared, they said something about bringing the end to all things mortal. I do not know what they meant by that, but I cannot let those dangerous monsters roam free. However, like I said, they are too much for me alone, and that is why I have come here to ask for your assistance, Sonic."

Everybody in the room stayed silent as the cat explained her situation. Some were shocked that Blaze was defeated in battle. The feline was known for her incredible speed and prowess in combat, and that someone, or something had managed to best her was surprising.

"So," said Sonic after a while, "If you have trouble, we'll gladly help, right guys?" The hedgehog turned around and asked the assembled crowd. Everybody nodded eagerly (once again, except Shadow, but he wanted to help as well) and looked at Blaze.

The princess smiled a little smile as she looked at her wonderful friends.

"So Blaze, can you tell us what these creatures are?" said Tails, "it would help a ton if we knew what we were dealing with."

Blaze looked down and crossed her arms, trying her hardest to remember the incident. After thinking for a while, the lavender cat raised her head and looked at everyone.

"Those creatures, they call themselves…**The Lords of Pandemonium.**"

…

**That's the surprise (though I don't know if it is pleasant or not). It's my new story I've been working on. I'm half way through it already, but it's going to take quite a while to complete. Anyway, if you are interested in my stories so far, do look forward to it.  
**

**Xin chào và hẹn gặp lại! :)**


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